Dark Night of the Soul

            Dark Night of the Soul, written by John of the Cross is almost like a narrative or an instruction manual. I know it may seem odd to reduce something so complex and meaningful down to something like an instruction manual, but I think there is an important correlation to be made between the two. It seems as though many people that are blessed in the dark night of the soul experience will most likely feel as though they are without God and are in deep despair. I mean, why wouldn't they? Being in such a state of desolation would certainly leave many people feeling unworthy, despairing and lonely. This is where the instruction manual portion comes in. If a person that is experiencing this darkness reads this book, they may be able to locate where they are in their journey, what comes next, and how they can attain it. Although it is not as simple as saying, “step one, step two step three,” there are many stages and I think it would be very helpful for a person that is in the dark night of the soul (at any stage).

            John of the Cross breaks the book down into various developmental stages. The first being “Purgation: The love of God for Pleasure’s Sake.” The stages within this stage include, “The Beginner, The Spiritual Sins of the Beginner, The Dark Night of the Senses.” The second stage is, “Illumination: The Love of God for Love’s Sake.” Within this stage we see, “Illumination, The Dark Night of the Spirit.” Last, we are presented with, “Union: The love of God for God’s Sake.” John of the Cross identifies the stages of the dark night of the soul with various types of love for God.

            In the first stage, John of the Cross remarks, “Some of these beginners, too, make little of their faults, and at other times become over-sad when they see themselves fall into them, thinking themselves to have been saints already; and thus they become angry and impatient with themselves, which is another imperfection. Often they beseech God, with great yearnings, that He will take from them their imperfections and faults, but they do this that they may find themselves at peace, and may not be troubled by them, rather than for God’s Sake; not relaxing that, if He should take their imperfections from them, they would probably become prouder and more presumptuous still.” I thought this was a great quote to identify with because it addresses many of the aspects of the dark night of the senses. Beginners will often be controlled more by their senses than their intellect. That is why John of the Cross remarks that this stage is for the sake of pleasure. However, thanks to Aristotle we know that pleasure is not the same as happiness and it can be all consuming and very dangerous. So beginners might often be in a state of danger, in which the devil will tempt them by the use of their passions. In addition, John of the Cross seems to write these passages as if he were talking about a spiritual child. Meaning, the beginners may certainly be compared to a child but by the end, it seems as though union would signify a sense of adulthood and maturity. It seems as though age, although not irrelevant in some circumstances, may not be a huge circumstance when it comes to the dark night of the soul/senses.

            I found the first book of The Dark Night of the Soul to be a very easy read because, as a young adult, I can relate to being driven by the passions and anxieties of everyday life. Even Thomas Aquinas says that the passions can be very misleading and extremely influential. So, if you are in a state of excited passions, it is better to wait, relax and then proceed with a decision or action. It is very often that the passions, if acted upon in the moment, will lead us into doing something that is wrong or immoral. In this case, Thomas Aquinas would say that if an immoral act was committed based on the deception of the passions, the wrongfulness of the act is greatly diminished. As stated above, I enjoyed this part of the book a lot because I saw the truth with every word I gathered. However, I did notice that it is easy to get lost in the book and texts because of the way it is written. On one hand, it is written in a narrative form. On the other hand, it is split up into sections that are numbered which, at some points, can seen a bit disjointing.

            I think it is important to address the section of the dark night of the soul with regards to the spirit. John of the Cross says, “this dark night is an inflowing of God into the soul, which purges it from its ignorance’s and imperfections, habitual natural and spiritual, and which is called by contemplatives infused contemplation, or mystical theology. Herein God secretly teaches the soul and instructs it in perfection of love without its doing anything, or understanding of what manner is this infused contemplation. Inasmuch as it is the loving wisdom of God, God produces striking effects in the soul for, by purging and illuminating it, he prepares it for the union of love with God.” It seems as though, just with the senses, an extreme purifying is going on within the soul/spirit. In a way, they spiritual desires are mortified and frozen so that God can intervene and sift through the soul. However, at the souls level of maturity he may feel as though he is without God and in a deep state of darkness.

            I think the presence of darkness is important to touch on because it can be seen as a very bad thing. All in all, evil is the absence of good. However, God plunges these souls into such a deep state of darkness so that they will arise in unison with him. This brings me to thinking about Flannery O’Conner, who believed that such an extreme as violence brings about the action of grace. She presents this in one of her most famous short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find. One of the main characters is brought to her knees by a man with a gun. Up until this near death experience, her thoughts were very self-centered and perverted. However, as death approaches her it seems as though her sights clear and she sees clearly. Therefore, as violence is to grace, darkness of the soul is to union with God.

            Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I believe something as profound as darkness bringing us into union with Christ certainly deserves some thought and attention. I did find it difficult, as stated above, to read the book in one continuous sitting. At times, it seemed to read like a very personal narrative, at others it seemed to take a step back and focus on the big picture. Perhaps this was necessary in order to present all aspects and stages of the dark night of the soul. After all, I am a huge fan of going from the particulars to universals.

 

Work Cited:

Cross, St. John of the. Dark Night of the Soul. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2003.